Improvement in mechanical musical instruments



0. H. ABNO. Mechanical Musical Instrument.

No. 213,604. Patented Mar. 25, I879.

Witnesses: lnv entor:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER H. ARNO,,OF WILMINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lN-MEQHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2l3.804,dated March 25, 1679; application filed January 20, 1879.

To all whom it may ooneem:

Be it known that I, OLIVER H. ARNo, of Wilmington, in the county 'of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have-invented a new and useful Improvement in Mechanical Mus} cal Instruments, which improvement is fullyset forth in the'following. specification and ac companying drawing, in which thefigureis a sectional elevation, representing the main features at my invent1on..-

My invention relates to that class of musical instruments in which the music is pro dnced automatically by means'ot' a perforated sheet or strip-of paper, or other flexible material, inconnection' with valves and-'reeds' or other sound-producers. 1

It consists-of a series of spring fingers; arranged and adapted to lift a corresponding series of jacks, each jack having a valve attachd to it, in' combination with a sheet of paper. or other flexib material, having perforations cut therein, said spring-fingers and jacks both being" arranged below andon the same side of said p forated sheet.

.B-is the bellows, am: 0 the wind-chest, either of which may becon. trnctedin any well-known form. D is the ree'- l-cl 1est,-ha ing the' reeds" d ail arranged in alternate positionsin two rows. E E.urc jacks, with the valves 0 e at tachcd to them.- ,F Ff'arespring-fiiigers. f f are hooks screwedinto the jacks E E, and are bent;at right angles-so as to rest on the upper'side-of tlie spring-fingers F F.

' The perforated pape'rH'is held down against the spring-fingers FF by the pressnre cap I. This'pressnre-cap I is provided with a series of holes corresponding to'the series of cams s a. on the spring-fingers]? F. .The perforated paper H- holds down, or'permits to-rise, all or any of the spring-fingers FF, according to the position of the perfdratious.' As the sheet H is moved-along byauy suitable means, and

ja ks E the cams a a come opposite the perforations, they slip up and through and carry with them the valves 0 a through the medium of the intervening p'arts described. The valves e ebeing arranged outside the reed-chest, and so as to close the openings to the reeds in the direction of the air, they are held to their seatby atmospheric pressure, so that all-that is necessary, in addition to this, to secure good air-tight conditions is the weight 0t the valves, combined with that of the jaeks, to which they are attached, so that the spring-fingers F F need not be more than one-half the strength thatwould be required in the case where the valves are arranged in the inside of the wind-chestandopposite the direction ot' the air.

It isohvious that the lighter the. springfingers F F. thelcssresistance they will ofiel to the sliding movement of the paper H, and

the less will be the wear of the parts subjected to friction.

-I am.-aware of the patent granted to Mason J. Matthews, in which jacks and valves, similar to those, herein described were employed, in connection with reeds arranged ina vertical position, and alternately in two rows, so that I do not claim any Lof .the features set forththerein; but p What I claim, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The s ring-fingers F F, arranged to lift the and valves ed through the medium of. the hooks f f, in combination with the perforated paper H, all substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

- As witness my hand this 16th day of January,'187-9.

OLIVER H. 'ARNO. Witnesses:

MASON'J. MATTHEWS,

E. A. HEmmNwAY. 

